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Man jailed after deputies find makeshift phone line recycling operation
BY ROGER SMITH MOUNTAIN CITIZEN INEZ — A Martin County man went to jail Saturday after deputies uncovered what looked like a phone line recycling plant in his yard. Wendell Taylor Johnson, 25, of Inez, was arrested at 349 Johnson Drive, where Martin County Sheriff’s deputies initially showed up to serve a warrant on a…
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Inez man arrested in Johnson copper theft
BY RACHEL DOVE MOUNTAIN CITIZEN PAINTSVILLE — An Inez man was arrested in neighboring Johnson County for allegedly cutting and stealing phone lines owned by Foothills Communication. Justin Mollette, 33, was arrested Aug. 23 by Johnson County Sheriff’s deputies. According to the police report, deputies arrived at the intersection of U.S. 23 and KY 3224,…
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Repeat copper thieves busted
One walked off from court-ordered rehab related to theft last month BY ROGER SMITH MOUNTAIN CITIZEN TOMAHAWK, Ky. — Two men with a history of stealing copper wire were arrested Thursday when police caught them with stolen wire in the back of a truck on Rockhouse Road in Tomahawk. One of the men apparently had…
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Copper theft endangers the whole community
BY SHERIFFS JOHN KIRK, SCOTT HAZELETTE and JOHN HUNT “Who’s it hurt?” thieves often ask. The store doesn’t care,” they say. “Insurance pays off and it’s all OK in the end.” This is shortsighted and wrong – especially when the crime is metal theft. As the economy slowed, our counties began experiencing a rash of…
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Kermit man arrested on four warrants
BY KYLE LOVERN MOUNTAIN CITIZEN KERMIT, W.Va. — Jeffrey Hodge of Kermit was arrested by Mingo County Sheriff’s Deputies Cpl. E. Williams and Deputy M. Tiller for two counts of grand larceny and two counts of destruction to railroad property. Hodge had two outstanding warrants from Mingo County and two from Wayne County, according to…
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Copper theft suspects arrested
Thirteen since mid-October BY ROGER SMITH MOUNTAIN CITIZEN TOMAHAWK — Police arrested two more suspects amid a rash of thefts targeting telephone lines in the Tomahawk area. The Martin County Sheriff John Kirk’s Office arrested 42-year-old Jason Mollett and 26-year-old Jeremy Tyler Jude for theft. Kirk said the two were involved in cutting and taking…
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Porter arrested for copper theft
At least 11 arrests since October BY ROGER SMITHMOUNTAIN CITIZEN DEBORD — Police arrested a man for copper theft last week in a traffic stop on Route 3 and Sawmill Hollow. An employee at Booth Energy called law enforcement shortly after 1 p.m. to alert them that a man was taking copper wire from the…
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Three men arrested for copper phone wire theft
BY ROGER SMITH MOUNTAIN CITIZEN INEZ — Copper wire thieves continue to destroy infrastructure in Martin County, knocking out phone service for weeks or months at a time in some areas and costing AT&T thousands of dollars. But the Martin County Sheriff’s Office made gains in arresting three men for stealing copper phone wire from…
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Copper thieves leave Tomahawk residents with no phone service
BY RACHEL DOVEMOUNTAIN CITIZEN TOMAHAWK — Copper thieves cut and stole over 5,000 feet of phone and cable lines from the Tomahawk and Milo communities over the last week, leaving residents without phone and internet services. Martin County Sheriff John Kirk said some residents reported cable outages occurred last weekend while others occurred overnight Saturday…